Dominion of Newfoundland
Newfoundland was a British dominion in eastern North America, today the modern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was confirmed by the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westminster of 1931. It included the island of Newfoundland, and Labrador on the continental mainland. Newfoundland was one of the original dominions within the meaning of the Balfour Declaration, and accordingly enjoyed a constitutional status equivalent to the other dominions of the time.
Newfoundland
- British dominion
(1907–1934) - Dependent territory of the United Kingdom
(1934–1949)
26 September 1907
19 November 1926
11 December 1931
16 February 1934
31 March 1949
In 1934, Newfoundland became the only dominion to give up its self-governing status, which ended 79 years of self-government.[1] The abolition of self-government came about because of a crisis in Newfoundland's public finances in 1932. Newfoundland had accumulated a significant amount of debt by building a railway across the island, which was completed in the 1890s, and by raising its own regiment during the First World War.[1] In November 1932, the government warned that Newfoundland would default on payments on the public debt.[1] The British government quickly established the Newfoundland Royal Commission to inquire into and report on the position.[1] The commission's report, published in October 1933, recommended that Newfoundland give up self-government temporarily and allow the United Kingdom to administer it by an appointed commission.[1]
The Newfoundland parliament accepted the recommendations and presented a petition to the King to ask for the suspension of the constitution and the appointment of commissioners to administer the government until the country became self-supporting again.[2] To enable compliance with the request, the British Parliament passed the Newfoundland Act 1933, and on 16 February 1934, the British government appointed six commissioners, three from Newfoundland and three from the United Kingdom, with the governor as chairman.[2] The system of a six-member Commission of Government continued to govern Newfoundland until Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949 to become Canada's tenth province.[3]
The remaining North American colonies (the Province of Canada - previously Upper Canada and Lower Canada; Colony of Newfoundland; Nova Scotia; New Brunswick; Prince Edward Island; Rupert's Land; British Arctic Territories; Columbia District/Oregon Country - shared with the United States; and Bermuda), after the 1783 independence of the thirteen that became the United States of America, were administered collectively within the British Empire as British North America.
From 1824, the British Empire was divided by the War and Colonial Office into four administrative departments, including NORTH AMERICA, which was made up of:[7]
In 1854, the British government established Newfoundland's responsible government.[8] In 1855, Philip Francis Little, a native of Prince Edward Island, won a parliamentary majority over Sir Hugh Hoyles and the Conservatives. Little formed the first administration from 1855 to 1858.
Under the 1867 Confederation of Canada, all except Newfoundland and Bermuda confederated to form the Dominion of Canada. Newfoundland rejected confederation with Canada in the 1869 general election. Sir John Thompson, Prime Minister of Canada, came very close to negotiating Newfoundland's entry into Confederation in 1892.
It remained a colony until the 1907 Imperial Conference resolved to confer dominion status on all self-governing colonies in attendance.[9] The annual holiday of Dominion Day was celebrated each 26 September to commemorate the occasion.